New Jersey Wrongful Death Lawyer

A death caused by someone else’s carelessness leaves a family grieving and, at the same time, facing a legal clock that starts running on the date of death. Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC is a New Jersey law firm that handles personal injury, civil litigation, and family law matters for individuals and families in Monmouth County, Ocean County, Middlesex County, and across the state, including representation in wrongful death claims.

A New Jersey wrongful death lawyer works on a claim that is different in kind from an ordinary injury case. The person who would have brought the case is gone, so the law hands the claim to a personal representative who sues on behalf of the surviving family. What gets recovered is not the pain the deceased felt but the financial and personal loss the survivors absorb: the income and household contributions that stop, the guidance and companionship a child or spouse no longer has, and the costs that follow a death. Because families so often face questions about support, inheritance, and who has standing at the same time, the claim tends to touch family law and estate planning as much as injury law.

Many of these cases begin with a car, truck, or pedestrian crash, a fall on unsafe property, a construction site collapse, or a failure of medical care, but the common thread is the same. Someone owed a duty of care, did not meet it, and a person died. What follows is a civil case about accountability and financial recovery, and it runs on its own track whether or not criminal charges are ever brought.

Why Choose Sanvenero & Cittadino for a Wrongful Death Claim

Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC represents individuals, families, and business owners throughout Monmouth County, including Red Bank, Rumson, Middletown, Holmdel, Colts Neck, Tinton Falls, Freehold, Long Branch, and Asbury Park, as well as clients in Ocean County, Middlesex County, and elsewhere in New Jersey. The firm’s attorneys are admitted in New Jersey, New York, Florida, and the District of Columbia, and several have been recognized by Super Lawyers. Clients can expect a team that communicates clearly, returns calls, and explains each step in plain terms.

Joshua Cittadino, Founding Partner, brings experience in personal injury, construction litigation, real estate, employment matters, and business transactions. That range matters in wrongful death work, where a fatal accident may involve a general contractor and subcontractors, a commercial property owner, an employer, or a business with its own insurance and ownership questions. The firm’s personal injury practice has recovered $400,000 for injury clients in just three months, and its attorneys deal directly with insurance companies so families are not left to argue with adjusters while they grieve.

Richard Sanvenero, Managing Partner and a New Jersey Supreme Court Certified Matrimonial Attorney, anchors the family law side of the practice. A death often leaves open questions about child support, a pending divorce, custody, and a surviving spouse’s financial footing. Mike Canarick, Of Counsel and a tax and estate planning attorney, helps with the estate and tax questions that sit behind any recovery. Because the firm works as a coordinated team across family, business, real estate, estate planning, and litigation, a family does not have to assemble several disconnected firms to handle the pieces of a single loss.

Situations That Lead to Wrongful Death Claims in New Jersey

• Motor Vehicle Collisions: Crashes on Route 35, Route 9, the Garden State Parkway, and Route 18 produce a large share of fatal injury claims, including tractor-trailer collisions, motorcycle crashes, and pedestrians struck at crossings. Liability may rest with a driver, an employer whose driver was on the job, or a vehicle owner.
• Drunk Driving Deaths: When an intoxicated driver kills someone, the civil claim exists separately from the DWI or vehicular homicide prosecution. A driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or more is guilty of DWI without any further proof of impairment, and that evidence can strengthen the civil case, though the family still has to prove the elements of its own claim.
• Construction and Workplace Fatalities: Falls, trench and scaffold failures, equipment accidents, and struck-by incidents on building sites can implicate property owners, general contractors, and equipment makers. Workers’ compensation may limit claims against an employer, but third parties are often fair game.
• Premises Liability: Unsafe stairs, poor lighting, unmaintained walkways, inadequate security, and dangerous conditions at commercial properties, rental buildings, and event venues can cause fatal falls and other deaths.
• Medical Negligence: Missed diagnoses, surgical errors, medication mistakes, and birth injuries can end in death. These claims require expert medical testimony and are among the most document-intensive wrongful death cases.
• Defective Products: A vehicle part, medical device, ladder, or consumer product that fails and kills someone can support a claim against the manufacturer or distributor.
• Violent Crime and Domestic Violence: When a death results from a violent act, the family may pursue a civil claim against the perpetrator and, where applicable, against a negligent third party such as a property owner with inadequate security.
• Deaths Involving Government Property or Employees: Dangerous roadways, public buildings, and municipal vehicles can give rise to claims against a public entity, which carry their own notice rules.

Deadlines and First Steps After a Fatal Accident

The single most important date is two years from the date of death. New Jersey requires a wrongful death action to be filed within that period, and a claim filed after it is generally barred. The statute carves out an exception where the death resulted from murder, aggravated manslaughter, or manslaughter and the defendant has been convicted, found not guilty by reason of insanity, or adjudicated delinquent; in that situation no limitations period applies. Do not count on that exception without speaking to a lawyer, because it depends on how the criminal case ends. If a government entity may be responsible, such as a town, county, or public agency, a Notice of Claim must be served within 90 days, which is far shorter than the general deadline and is missed more often than families realize.

In the days after a death, the practical priorities are preserving evidence and protecting the claim. Request the police crash or incident report from the investigating department. Keep the death certificate, medical records, bills, funeral expenses, and employment and pay records. Photograph the scene if you can do so safely, and write down the names of witnesses before memories fade. Do not give a recorded statement to an insurance company and do not sign a release or accept an early offer; adjusters often reach out quickly, and early settlements rarely reflect the full value of a life’s worth of lost support.

The claim itself must be brought by the personal representative of the estate, so one of the first legal tasks is having an executor or administrator appointed through the county Surrogate. Where there is a will, the named executor serves; where there is none, the court appoints an administrator. This is where the firm’s estate planning attorneys are useful, because the same person who files the lawsuit is responsible for managing and distributing whatever is recovered.

Wrongful death and related civil cases arising in Monmouth County are heard in the Superior Court at the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold. Cases in Ocean County are heard at the Ocean County Courthouse in Toms River, and Middlesex County matters are handled through the Superior Court in that county. If the death also resulted in criminal charges, the criminal case proceeds separately in the criminal division, and the civil case is often paused or sequenced around it. Families also sometimes qualify for help through the Victims of Crime Compensation Office when the death resulted from a crime: the crime must be reported to police within nine months, the claim filed within five years, and eligibility does not depend on anyone being convicted. That program can help with funeral costs and counseling while the civil case moves forward.

Who Can Recover, What Is Recoverable, and How Fault Affects the Case

New Jersey actually has two related claims after a death. The wrongful death claim compensates the surviving family members who were financially or personally dependent on the person who died. A separate survival claim belongs to the estate and covers the pain and suffering the person experienced between the injury and death, along with medical bills and lost wages for that period. The two are usually pursued together in one lawsuit, but they are measured differently and go to different recipients.

Recoverable losses in the wrongful death claim commonly include the income and benefits the person would have provided over a working lifetime, the value of household services such as childcare and home upkeep, the loss of guidance and companionship, and funeral and burial costs. In a case involving a parent, the value of lost guidance to a young child can be substantial; in a case involving a spouse, lost future earnings and retirement contributions are often the largest component. Proving those figures typically calls for economists or vocational experts, and the firm’s litigation team knows how to assemble that support.

Fault is evaluated under New Jersey’s comparative negligence rules. A person can still recover when the deceased bore some responsibility, so long as that share was not greater than the share assigned to the party being sued; recovery is reduced by the deceased’s percentage of fault. When several parties share blame, the allocation among them affects who pays. These questions come up constantly in crash cases, where the other side will often argue the deceased was speeding, distracted, or walking outside a crosswalk.

A wrongful death can also ripple into family court. Child support obligations end by operation of law when a child dies, though a court order or approved agreement can provide otherwise, and the death of a paying or receiving parent can reshape support, custody, and financial arrangements for children still living. Richard Sanvenero’s family law background lets the firm address those consequences alongside the injury claim instead of leaving them for a different lawyer to untangle later.

Common Questions About New Jersey Wrongful Death Cases

Who is allowed to file a wrongful death lawsuit in New Jersey?

The lawsuit must be filed by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate, meaning the executor named in a will or an administrator appointed by the court. That person sues on behalf of the survivors, who then share in any recovery according to New Jersey’s rules for who qualifies as an heir.

How long do we have to file?

Two years from the date of death in most cases. The only notable exception is where the death was caused by a murder, aggravated manslaughter, or manslaughter and the defendant has been convicted, found not guilty by reason of insanity, or adjudicated delinquent, in which case no time limit applies. If a public entity is involved, a Notice of Claim is due within 90 days.

What is the difference between a wrongful death claim and a survival claim?

The wrongful death claim compensates the family for what they lost because the person died, such as lost income, services, and companionship. The survival claim belongs to the estate and covers what the person suffered between the injury and death. They are usually brought together but are calculated separately.

Can we sue if the person who caused the death was criminally charged?

Yes. The criminal case and the civil case are independent. A criminal conviction is not required for a civil claim, and an acquittal does not automatically defeat one, because the civil case uses a lower standard of proof. The civil case is often timed around the criminal proceeding.

Can we recover if our loved one was partly at fault?

Often yes. New Jersey allows recovery as long as the deceased’s share of fault was not greater than the share assigned to the party being sued. The award is reduced by the deceased’s percentage of responsibility, so fault allocation is frequently the most contested issue.

What if the death happened at work?

Workers’ compensation death benefits are generally the remedy against an employer, but they do not prevent a claim against outside parties whose negligence contributed, such as an equipment manufacturer, a property owner, or another contractor on a site. Construction fatalities in particular often involve several potentially liable companies.

Does a wrongful death case have to go to trial?

Most do not. Many resolve through negotiation or mediation once liability evidence and damages are developed. That said, cases are prepared as though they will be tried, because the strength of that preparation drives settlement value. Where an insurer refuses a fair resolution, the case is litigated in Superior Court.

Who gets the money if we win or settle?

The proceeds are distributed to the survivors according to New Jersey’s intestacy rules, which generally favor a spouse and children, and the court supervises the allocation. Where there is disagreement among family members, the court decides how the recovery is divided. A survival claim recovery passes through the estate and can be affected by the will.

Can a wrongful death claim affect child support or custody orders?

It can have indirect effects. A child support obligation ends by operation of law when the child dies, absent a contrary order or agreement, and the death of a parent changes who is responsible for a child’s support and care. A recovery earmarked for a minor child may also need court oversight. Coordinating the injury and family law sides prevents conflicting outcomes.

How are legal fees handled in a wrongful death case?

Wrongful death cases are typically handled on a contingency basis, meaning fees are tied to the recovery. Call the firm to discuss how fees and case costs would work in your situation before you decide anything.

Is it worth pursuing a claim when the at-fault driver had little insurance?

Often there are other sources of recovery, including the deceased person’s own underinsured motorist coverage, an employer if the driver was working, a vehicle owner, or a business that served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. Identifying every available policy early is part of building the case.

What if we are not sure the death was caused by someone’s negligence?

Many deaths, particularly in medical settings or industrial accidents, are not obviously the result of a mistake at first. Obtaining records and, where needed, an expert review can show whether a standard of care was breached. Do not assume a claim is unavailable because the cause was initially unclear, but do not let the two-year deadline pass while you wait for answers.

Wrongful Death Representation Across Monmouth, Ocean, and Middlesex Counties

Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC represents families throughout Monmouth County, including Shrewsbury, Red Bank, Rumson, Middletown, Holmdel, Colts Neck, Tinton Falls, Freehold, Long Branch, and Asbury Park, along with neighboring shore and inland communities. The firm also serves families in Ocean County, including Toms River, and throughout Middlesex County, and it takes on matters across the State of New Jersey. Whether a fatal crash happened on a parkway, a construction accident occurred on a job site, or a death followed care at a medical facility, the team coordinates the injury claim with the family, estate, and financial questions that follow a loss.

Speak With a New Jersey Wrongful Death Attorney

The two-year clock on a New Jersey wrongful death attorney’s claim begins at the date of death, and evidence, witnesses, and records are easiest to secure early. Sanvenero & Cittadino, LLC can review what happened, explain who may be responsible and who may recover, and tell you plainly what to expect. Call to schedule a consultation and talk through your family’s situation with a team that handles the injury case and the family and estate questions around it.